At Boston (Huntington Ave.) on a sharrow, I took the full lane on a two lane avenue. I had a near miss because the car behind me took both lanes in the middle instead of just changing lanes. There is no need for it. I was able to catch up to him on a red traffic light and knocked on his window. The guy couldn't even see my face. He knew what he did.
@@sawchuk519 Again, the clue is in the name, in this case; motor. So, it's a way for vehicles with motors. I don't expect everyone to have an interest in etymology, but also, it's not hard.
Massive old school casey neistat vibes, love it! We don't have sharows here in the uk but have painted lanes that are way too narrow, this is ultimatley less safe as it provides a false sense of security for cyclists and drivers can get angry at you if you're not using it
love the PSA, frustratingly unless people are inconvenienced they really never actually change their behaviour patterns. Hoping that we can get some serious bike infrastructure and maybe by tying into other activist work use bike infrastructure to tackle other issues related to cycling, but also improving stuff like economic and so on gaps in society.
I started riding in Greater Boston as a student in the mid-1960's, and have returned for periods as a coach, patient, etc over the years, always gotten around by bicycle. So far just one near collision (my error) and one fall-down (also my error). Never found it particularly dangerous, but you have to be on your toes and should wear a helmet. It's by far the fastest way to get around the Boston area, in part because parking a bicycle is so easy. Posting signs (and eliminating those misleading "Share the Road" signs with a bicycle on them!) may help, but what would help more is driver education. Modules in drivers ed on how to safely deal with bicycles on the road, perhaps retesting program for drivers licenses to help quash the crazy misconceptions by drivers of what the bicycle-related laws are. Possibly also courses for cyclists to train them how to ride safely, not blitz through red lights, ride on sidewalks, etc.
Your video is just perfect! So many time I had to move to the side not to be hit by a donkey jerk driving a SUV truck aggressively. I like these songs you picked in btw, walking metamorphosis - Raul Seixas.
Some sharrows are done well. Some are done very poorly. I'd say, in my experience as a cyclist, sharrow markings can be useful in that they show cyclists routes. That is (if done properly) those bike markings are laid down on roads with low speed limits that show a frequented bike route that doesn't just dead end onto an unsafe road. But it just so happens that the road is too narrow to add a safe bike lane, or that it's so low-trafficked that it doesn't need it. These are fine and useful. What is a problem, is that these same symbols also get painted on roads that have too much traffic, too fast traffic, or are otherwise unsafe for the any but the most bold to ride on. But they happen to be the only way to connect two areas so that's what gets labeled a bike route. It's a cheap half measure when ideally one vehicular lane could be taken to make a two-way cycle path with barriers for safety. You wouldn't use a RR Xing sign to show a crossing at a disused industrial train track and an at grade subway crossing that gets 6 trains ever hour. But that's exactly what's happening- the same sign gets used in two wildly different use cases, and you can't tell what's safe or not because of it unless you already know the area.
Love the editing and music, came across this cus I heard Boston's new mayor has been building out lanes on a huge scale... but looks like the city is still very unsafe day to day!
The language needs to change. You were not hit by a car. A car hit you. It was an action, precipitated by someone who wanted to harm you, or, at the least, drove so recklessly that he took your suffering into account.
Thankfully, due to the constantly increasing population and road construction and maintenance costs, most North American cities are understanding that cars aren't the answer to transportation or to desireable downtowns. The trend is clear. Its just unfortunate that it takes so long to realize such changes. Part of the reason is the lack of experience of municipalities and work crews with transportation modes other than cars, even if they understand and accept the trends. Slower speeds are a big part of the answer in urban residential and downtown cores. This is because it makes roads safer for everyone. Statistically, walking is more dangerous than biking, relatively speaking. Technolgy to make vehicles safer for everyone exists. We just need it on all cars sooner than later. We have governors for ebikes, so why not smart governors for vehicles? When will pedestrian avoidance technology be required on all vehicles?
This video completely misrepresents why sharrows are dangerous. It’s not only because you’re not taking the full lane but because sharrows give the impression that bicycles are safe on a arterial with 35mph signed speed and a 45mph 85%tile speed. Don’t just use the full lane have an understanding of what is safe. You can feel it in your bones. You know what’s safe. Please don’t die because there is some paint on the ground telling you you have a legal right to a space. Finally call your council members about calming traffic. Edit: came in here to say that I really liked the work you put into making a nice video. Very jonny Harris with the illustrations and cuts.
Totally agree with you. Here in Toronto, planners seem to use sharrows for two reasons -- one which I like and one which I don't. The first is to connect major bike routes via side streets. I really like this because navigating all the one-ways and dead ends can be confusing, so the paint gives you a surefire way to get between bike routes. The other way that planners seem to use sharrows is to slap one on roads that are too dangerous for cyclists. I genuinely cannot fathom why they would do this. My best guess is that planners know that motorists don't know the law and think bikes can only ride where there's a bike symbol, so they put a sharrow on the road to remind motorists of the existence and legality of cycling. This use of sharrows has so many problems but the biggest one, to me, is it makes Google Maps think that these extremely hostile roads are bike friendly. So Google Maps will actually go *out of its way* to direct you along these horrible roads. I really wish planners would stop using sharrows.
It just simply shouldn't be the case that motorists feel entitled to move their massive steel boxes at 80 km/hr through city corridors... what is wrong with the world!?!?
I don't know about the US, but in my country we differentiate between bike infrastructure that is mandatory (if present, it "must" be used by people on bicycles - as in: they are not allowed to use the adjoining road) and infra that is not mandatory. Legally the difference is in the signage, but there is a legal minimum standard for a bike route to be mandatory, so this can only happen if it is either grade-seperated, PBL or entirely removed from the road (e.g. by a row of planters) and wide enough to accomodate the traffic (either one-way or both ways, depending on weather there is a path on both sides of the road).
It's like that everywhere in north American city , i ride on sidewalk at this point but the popo give me head ache about i can't bike on sidewalk, this just make me thinking of moving to Amsterdam or tokyo .
Last semester a guy honked and cursed at me and my friend for riding on a sharrow on the outskirts of Boston. He had this tiny car who could clearly go around us to the left lane. I cursed back at him but quickly changed my mind because arguing with random men on the street is prob not a good idea. Freaking hate Boston drivers.
Stay off the roads. You’re a hazard to yourself and by extension put motorists in danger of inadvertently injuring you. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, or are in the right.
I love the message, but hate the plagiarism. Find your own style instead of copying other creators such as Casey Neistat. Thanks for advocating for cyclists though!
